Loved You Then, Love You Now
by this is account is so dead
Summary: Gangs, violence, all sorts of things that good-girl Sakura isn't used to, but she throws herself straight into them when she moves to Konoha, and meets her old best friend in the process. However, a rival gang threatens Konoha's Twelve. NaruSaku
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: First fanfic! It's NaruSaku, it's high school, and it involves broken friendships, gangs, and danger.

"Talking"

_Thoughts and flashbacks_

**Inner Sakura**

**_Inner Sakura in a flashback_**

Catfish swimming in your orange juice

Chapter 1: Meet Sakura

I could hear the voices around me, I could see all the people surrounding me, but I couldn't believe that I was really here. Konoha was a rough city where gangs were many and violence was everywhere. Not where you would expect the smart, good girl to want to live, but what can I say? I had wanted something more exciting than my quiet life in Kiri.

Maybe it'd be best if I started with an introduction first. My name is Haruno Sakura and I'm not exactly average looking. My short pink hair and emerald eyes make me stand out more than the average girl. I was always considered smart and had a good reputation as one who always stayed away from anything remotely bad.

But everything was going to change.

-

"_Sakura," my father said, "your mother and I have something to tell you. Do to some relocations at work, we're going to be moving. Now I know you have a good life here, but I'm sure you'll have no trouble adjusting."_

_I just stared at him, at a loss for words._

"_Oh, Sakura, dear, try to understand," my mom begged._

"_Where?" was all I said._

"_Konoha."_

_Excitement filled my mind as I imagined starting over in that gang-filled city, somewhere where I could be different. I hadn't said anything to anybody, but I hated my life. My friends were all boring and smart like me, but they were content with being that way. I, on the other hand, longed for adventure, to be someone other than the goody two shoes braniac. I wanted to move to Konoha more than anything._

"_I'm sure I'll do fine," I assured them, hoping they couldn't see the maniacal grin I was fighting._

_Inner Sakura, on the other hand, wasn't fighting at all._

"_**All right! Konoha, here we come!" **she cheered._

_I had first developed this alter ego when I realized that I wasn't being the one I wanted to be. When I couldn't show my true feelings, Inner Sakura was born._

_In a few weeks, I would be starting my new life._

-

There I was, and it was unbelievable. Konoha High was nothing like my old private school, I heard words that I had only heard on the movies my parents didn't know I was watching, and I had seen three fights already, even though I had only been there ten minutes.

I was absolutely loving it.

"**Whoa, whoa, check **_**him**_** out,"** Inner Sakura said, but she didn't have to tell me that. Down the hallway stood an extremely attractive raven haired boy with onyx eyes. He was surrounded by four girls and five boys, all of which were almost as attractive as him.

There was a blonde girl with crystal blue eyes, another blonde, this one curvier, with teal eyes, a girl with blue hair and white eyes (thank God there was someone as unusual looking at me), and a brunette with brown eyes for the girls. As for the boys, there was a rugged brunette with brown eyes, a tall guy with black hair and sunglasses even though we were indoors, a plump auburn haired guy, a black haired boy with a ponytail, and a boy with long black hair and white eyes like the blue haired girl.

Judging by height, the teal-eyed blonde and the white-eyed boy were seniors, while the others were juniors like myself. And the way they stood together just screamed "Gang!" I adored them.

"Oi, new girl, I know what you're thinking," a redhead with glasses said, approaching me. "And you need to stop. They'd never let a newbie in, they won't even let me in."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The name's Karin and I know you're daydreaming about being a member of Konoha's Eleven." She gestured to the gang I had been gawking at.

"Eleven? But there are only ten of them," I said, confused. "Oh, by the way, I'm Sakura."

"The eleventh member isn't over there. The knucklehead usually shows up later than the rest," she replied.

"So they'd never let me in?" I asked, discouraged.

"Highly unlikely. I wanted to be a member more than anything, but they didn't want me. Also, it's best not to fantasize about Uchiha Sasuke."

"Sasuke?"

"The hot one. Yamanaka Ino- she's the shorter blonde one- is most likely his girl. The other blonde is Sabaku no Temari, the brunette is Tenten, and the shy girl is Hyuuga Hinata. The boy with white eyes is Hyuuga Neji; he's Hinata's older cousin and Sasuke's closest friend. If it weren't for him, innocent Hinata wouldn't have considered joining. The fatass is Akimichi Chouji, but don't call him that to his face, ponytail is Nara Shikamaru, and the last one is Inuzuka Kiba," Karin replied.

"So, I shouldn't want to join and I shouldn't fall in love with Sasuke?" I asked.

"Exactly," she said, nodding. "I used to be obsessed with Sasuke, but I got over him when I fell in love with my retarded best friend."

"Hey, hey, is that any way to talk about me?" someone behind us said, and we both turned around to see a boy with light, almost white, blue hair smirking at Karin.

"Oh, shut up," she said, but I could tell that she cared a lot about him. He was definitely the best friend she was talking about. "Sakura, this is Suigetsu. Suigetsu, this is the new girl, Sakura."

"Oh, so she's the one who switched from Kiri Academy." He inspected me before nodding and saying, "She's doomed."

"Shut up, Suigetsu! She'll do just fine!"

"Yeah right. She's from one of those prissy schools, where everyone follows the rules. She won't last a day here," Suigetsu said, shrugging.

"Of course she will, as long as she sticks with us!"

Only ten minutes into the day, and I already had two new friends. I knew I should be grateful that people were already being so nice to me, but I still wanted more. Despite what Karin said, I wanted to make Konoha's Eleven into Konoha's Twelve!

-

Karin and Suigetsu introduced me to their other friend, a redhead named Juugo. He seemed clearly relieved at having someone else around; he was obviously a third wheel. But from the way Karin nudge-nudged and wink-winked, it seemed she expected us to hook up. He seemed nice enough, but never in a million years.

All through the day, I stared at any member of Konoha's Eleven that I happened to have class with, wondering what it would be like to hang out with them. Karin's words couldn't keep me down, not when I wanted this so much. It was just what I had in mind when I heard that we were moving to Konoha.

At lunch, Karin caught me staring at them again and laughed. "Still thinking about it, Sakura?"

I blushed. "I just…"

"I know, I know, they're fascinating, but you'll get used to it after a while. I just want you to know that I know how you feel."

"Karin?"

"Huh?"

"There's still only ten of them. Where's the eleventh?"

"Hmmm…he must be out sick today. If he were here, everybody would know it. He's that kind of person, if you know what I mean."

I did.

"Oh, I see. You mean the loud, obnoxious, LOOK-AT-ME kind of person?" I asked.

"Exactly."

"I definitely know what you mean. Back when I was in elementary school, my best friend acted just like that."

"Yes, but did he have ridiculous blonde hair?"

I fake-gasped. "Karin, you psychic, how did you know?"

"Just a wild guess. Maybe all of them are blondes."

"Maybe so."

I had no idea what awaited me the next morning.

-

"Sakura, how was your first day?" my mom asked when I walked in that afternoon.

"It was great, I already have three new friends."

"Oh really?"

"Yup. Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo. How are you enjoying it here?"

My mom grinned. "I really like it. I actually met up with one of my old friends who used to live in Kiri. Maybe you remember her? Kushina?"

"Oh, yeah, her," I said. "Well, I'm gonna go get to work on my homework now."

"**Kushina? Who the hell is she? Her name sounds familiar, but I don't have a clue who she is!"**

I whizzed through my homework with ease and continued to wonder about my mom's old friend. Who could she possibly be? Who did mom hang out with when I was younger? I spent most of the evening pondering this, but then my thoughts returned to Konoha's Eleven, my dream of being a member, and the mysterious eleventh member.

-

When I got to school the next morning, I immediately began searching for Karin. When I couldn't find her, a turned around to head to my locker, only to run into a blonde haired, blue eyed boy who-

Wait a second!

"Naruto?"

"Sakura?"

Author's Note: What will happen now?

Sakura: Remember to review!

Me: And tell me what story you'd like to see after this one!


	2. Chapter 2

I AM SO EXCITED, I AM SO EXITED, SAKURA CONFESSED! I know Naruto doesn't seem to even want her love, BUT IT'S A HUGE STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION! At least he said something to her after she confessed instead of completely forgetting.

Alright, time for chapter two. We last left Sakura after she bumped into Naruto.

Karin: Am I important in this story?

Me: Of course you are, Karin. I've got big plans for you, Suigetsu, and Juugo. After all, you guys were Sakura's first friends in Konoha!

-

"Sakura?"

"Naruto?"

I couldn't believe my eyes, but the blonde before me had to him. Uzumaki Naruto my childhood friend who had moved away was definitely this blue eyed boy, who was a lot cuter than I remembered. Of course, I should have remembered that Konoha was where he had moved, but I guess since we hadn't seen each other since we were four, it had escaped my memory.

"Sakura, is it really you?"

"Hi, Naruto. Nice to see you."

"I heard we had a new student, but I didn't know it was you! I was sick yesterday, but I wish I hadn't been! This is so amazing!"

He was still the same Naruto, never letting me get a word in edgewise. Memories of the two of us came flooding back to me. We always played together and he told me he loved me every day. I had always ignored his crush on me, after all, we were only friends, but seeing him now…

He pulled me into a tight hug and for a moment it was just the two of us, best friends reunited. Until I heard a giggle from behind him.

"Making moves on the new girl, Uzumaki?" That pretty blonde girl, the one named Ino, smirked at him as he let me go.

"Ino, this is Sakura!"

"I know who she is, she introduced herself in class yesterday."

"No, she's my best friend! I used to live next door to her, but then I moved and since we were so young, we didn't think to keep up contact!"

Ino studied me. "Well, she's cute, one you get past the oversized forehead!"

I twitched. "What did you say?"

She grinned evilly. "I _said_ you have an oversized forehead. Wanna make something of it?"

I made the same evil smile right back at her. "Only if you do," I said sweetly. She looked triumphant. "Pig."

"What did you call me?!"

"I called you a pig!"

"Take that back, Forehead!"

"Not until you do, Pig!"

"I AM NOT A PIG!"

Naruto stared at our argument, wide eyed. "Sakura? Ino?"  
"STAY OUT OF THIS!"

"S-sorry…"

"So, was he this much of an idiot when he was younger?" Ino asked.

"You know it," I replied with a smile.

"You…but…and you…and…I will never understand girls," said Naruto, looking dazed.

"Sakura! Hey, Sakura!" Karin ran up to me, looked at the two blondes, then back to me. "Did you forget what I told you?" she said under her breath. Naruto and Ino looked confused.

"No, Karin, it's okay," I said with a laugh. "Naruto was my best friend when we were four, then he moved away! I can't believe you didn't tell me that annoying blonde was him!"

"Annoying blonde?" Naruto pretended to look offended.

"Seems you have the same reputation as always," I replied, then hugged him again. "I've missed you so much!"

When I let him go, I grinned. "So, Naruto, why don't you tell me all about your girlfriend."

He cocked his head. "Girlfriend?"

"You know," I nudged him, "Ino!"

"_I'm_ dating _Naruto_?!?!?!?!" Ino shouted.

"You are, huh? And here I thought we were dating," a deep male voice said from behind us and snaked his arm around Ino's shoulders.

"I thought…oh." I smiled. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Haruno Sakura."

"Hey, hey, Sakura, watch your step around my man, okay?" Ino said this jokingly, but you could tell that she took Sasuke matters very seriously.

"I told you that Sasuke and Ino were a thing already, didn't I?" Karin asked.

"Oh, yeah, musta forgotten. Ino and Naruto just looked _so_ sweet together." The two blondes gagged.

"Naruto, I thought you liked Ino," Sasuke said. "After all, you always complain about how girls like me. Or perhaps you like Karin?"

"Hey now, Sasuke, I'm taken. I got over you a long time ago."

"Yeah, once you quit stalking us!" Ino said. I got the feeling that Karin and Ino didn't get along very well.

"Why would I like Karin? She did stalk us!" Okay, apparently neither of these two liked Karin.

"Sakura, since you seem to be getting along so well with these guys, I guess you don't need me anymore," Karin said, spinning around.

"She always was a sore loser, right Sasuke?"

"Yes, she couldn't take it that we didn't let her in," the raven-haired boy said with a nod.

"She's so weird," Naruto said, shaking his head. "With that funny hairstyle and the way she always followed us around."

Eyes ablaze, I shouted, "I can't believe you guys!"

"Huh? What do you mean, Sakura?"

"Karin's my _friend_! She was the first person to reach out to me, and I'm not going to listen to you talk bad about her! Good_bye_!"

"But Sakura, don't you want to b-"

"Don't say a word to her, Naruto!" Ino said. "We're not going to let her in!"

I tried not to care when she said that, but even after seeing how mean they were to Karin, I still wanted to be one of them.

"I don't know," I heard Sasuke say as I chased after my friend, "she could be very interesting…"

-

I thought Sakura's confession earned you guys a new chapter of this story. I was starting to slack off, but that inspired me to push through.

Sakura: Me or Karin?

Me: What?

Karin: Yeah, tell us.

Me: Huh?!?!

Sakura: Patricia, will I be saying things in your author's note, or will Karin?

Me: Uh…um…I guess you, Sakura.

Karin: Aww…

Me: Don't worry, Karin, I'll find a story for you!


	3. Chapter 3

Alright, I think it's time for an update.

Sakura: Yeah, you really left us hanging!

Me: Well, excuse me!

-

I flushed when I heard Sasuke's comment, but continued chasing after Karin.

"**Did you hear that? DID YOU HEAR THAT?"**

_Yes, I did._

"**Go back there and maybe he'll let you join!"**

_That'd be nice, but Karin needs me right now. She's my friend and I'd really like it to stay that way._

"**Good point."**

It didn't take me very long to find her as she had only turned one corner.

"Karin, wait up," I shouted chasing after her. Rather than speed up, like I thought she would, she stopped completely and glared at me.

"Aren't you going to go hang out with your new friends?"

"Come on, Karin, don't be that way," I said. "Just so you know, I just told them off for being mean to you."

Her frown stayed firmly in place, but from the look in her eyes, I could tell that she was pleased.

"Come on, Karin," I said, "you know I wouldn't let them be mean to you. You're my friend. Maybe I could have been friends with them, but they didn't talk to me yesterday, they didn't reach out to me first. If I'm not smart enough to realize that I need to choose the first to be nice to me, I don't deserve to have any friends at all."

"Don't worry, Sakura," she said, finally smiling. "I'm not really mad at you. I mean, who can blame you for being blinded by their almightiness?"

"Hey, I wouldn't go that far! As soon as I noticed something was up, I ditched them. I didn't hesitate for a second."

"And for that you are rewarded with keeping your two good friends and future boyfriend!"

"Yeah, y-hey, wait! What future boyfriend?!"

Karin laughed and took off down the hallway, calling, "Don't deny that you know!"

"Karin! Don't tell me you're talking about Juugo, I don't like him like that!" I called, chasing after her.

She laughed maniacally, but said nothing in response.

"Oh, come on, Karin!" Still, I laughed right along with her. Life was simpler then than it soon would be.

-

Our chase led us to my locker, where we separated so that I could get my books for class. However, as soon as I had them, she took off, cackling and shouting, "Sakura and Juugo!"

"Karin, you bitch!" I shouted, laughing, and didn't stop myself soon enough to prevent a collision with none other than the shy member of Konoha's Eleven.

"O-oh, I'm so sorry," the white eyed girl who had been called Hinata said, bowing.

"No, no, it was my fault," I said, wondering if she too hated Karin. I could tell that said friend didn't particularly like her by the way she glared sharply at her.

Hinata glanced warily at Karin before saying, "St-still, I…I should have been watching where I was g-going."

"Well, anyway, I'll just be going now," I said, grabbing Karin the Glarer and dragging her along.

"That girl," the redhead muttered.

"What could you possibly have against _her_?" I asked, sighing. "I thought you idolized them."

"Okay, one, I do _not_ idolize them! Two, _look_ at her! She's _so_ not gang material, she's way too innocent!"

"You told me her cousin got her in," I replied.

"Well, yeah, but if they let in a shy little crybaby like her…why couldn't they have let me in?"

"**Aha! She's still sore about being rejected!"**

"Maybe they just…really wanted a shy little crybaby?"

"**Ooh, nice pep talk," **Inner Sakura said sarcastically.

_Oh, shut it._

Karin didn't respond for a little bit before saying, "You wouldn't like her anyway?"

"And why's that?"

"Because she has a crush on Naruto."

"H-huh? Why wouldn't I like her because of that?" I asked, suddenly feeling very defensive, though I didn't know why.

"Duh, you like him!" she said.

"Ew, Naruto? No, no, definitely not!" I didn't know why this was making me blush. "Besides, I thought I liked Juugo!" As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized this had been Karin's intent.

"Aha, so you admit it!" she shouted and I couldn't chase her as she ran away because I was running late for my first class.

-

I could feel a pair of eyes burning into the back of my head and I could easily figure out why without turning around. The empty seat behind me that I had noticed the day before belonged to none other than Naruto himself. And, of course, I felt the overwhelming urge to turn around and smile at him, but after the whole ordeal over Karin, I absolutely could not and would not acknowledge him.

Well, that was the plan, anyway.

"Sakura," he whispered. I ignored him.

"Sakura. Sakura. Sakura. Saaaaaaaaakuraaaaaaaaaaa. Sakura!"

"What the hell is it?" I hissed, hoping that the teacher wouldn't hear us talking.

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know you were that close to Karin. It's just, before she started going out with Suigetsu, she was little weird and would never leave us alone, so-"

"So you make fun of her," I finished. "I understand, Naruto. I understand completely."

"Gee, thanks, Saku-"

"And that's why I don't want to talk to you or Sasuke or Ino or any of your other jerkish friends."

Naruto was silent for a moment. "Sakura, listen. It's not just that. After we rejected her so much…she…sorta got in a huge fight with Ino. The two were practically clawing at each other and then Tenten and Temari got involved…it didn't look like Karin was going to win and Suigetsu ran off and got Akatsuki involved."

"Akatsuki?" I asked.

"It's another gang. We had a sort of peaceful relationship, even though Sasuke hated one of the members, Itachi. Their brothers, but he can't stand him. Anyway, it was all fine until Suigetsu decided to tell his cousin, Kisame, that we were planning something against them. Kisame's a member and he was there in a flash, along with the other members. Needless to say, the fight with Karin was ended and a new fight had begun. We didn't actually beat each other up, but it was clear that Akatsuki was one of our enemies," he whispered. My eyes widened.

"I don't see what that has to do with not liking Karin," I whispered. "I mean, she's with Suigetsu, but…"

"Well, we came to find out that she had given up on us a long time ago and was only pretending to want to be a member. She had told Suigetsu that if things didn't look in her favor, to start this gang war. It was her act of revenge against us," my friend said gravely.

"But…Karin…."

"She was going through a lot at the time. Soon after she went to some counseling and she's a lot better now. That's why you know her differently than the rest of us. It's just hard for us to forget what happened with her and really hard to forgive."

"Naruto, I'm sorry that I freaked out like that and-"

"Ms. Haruno, is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?"

"No, sorry."

I had no idea what to think of this new piece of information about Karin. I was so focused on that that I didn't notice that someone else was looking at me in the hall way.

-

This is my Christmas present to you. Hikari wrote a NaruSaku oneshot titled A Very NaruSaku Christmas and now that I'm updating this, I really think it is a very NaruSaku Christmas!

Sakura: Yay!

Me: I really hardly have any idea where I'm going with this, but I think I've got some sort of clue as to what to do next. We'll see!


	4. Notice

Hey, guys, guess what? I'm very much hating how Naruto is going right now, so this story and my other story are probably on hiatus. I WILL be completing them…however, I think I'm going to stop reading Naruto because it is starting to suck. I plan to instead write for a few other fandoms.


End file.
